Small details, big impact

There are so many ways to create impact in a space.  Sometimes impact is created by  subtle additions of  colour, textures, or forms  or features can be in your face - bold.

 I tend to sit in the subtle camp.  I enjoy finding treasures in a space and then visually connecting them to create points of interest- a kind of meandering trip while you sit comfortably at your computer or in someone's home.

Art

 Pinterest

The three small artworks hung vertically (lower than usually seen) act as a perfect foil for the hanging lamp.  The flowers soften all the vertical movement and it is further calmed by  the horizontal lines of the headboard and the fluffy pillows.  In a space that is neutral, you have to rely on other elements beside colour to excite the eye. 

 

South Shore Decorating

The artwork over the banquette keeps drawing me in.  The little hint of blue against the yellow school bus connects to the flowers and pillows.  I would be even happier seeing just the banquette, table and art.  This would allow the viewer to really appreciate the art.  Often less is more. 

Flowers

 Home & Interiors

 There's so much I love about this room: the simple lines in furniture; the light floor; the minimalist arrangements in the bookcase; the purple over the fireplace.  The crowning glory for me is the tall vase of calla lilies by the window. They are like an exclamation point. 

Spots and Stripes

The natural elements in this space keep your eyes moving . Nothing looks as crisp as plants in an all white space.

 Pillows

 Purple area

Never underestimate the power of  pillows to add interest to a blah space. This room goes from ordinary to inviting because of the pillows. The variety in size, shape and textures draws the eye.  Who know crocheted squares could look so good? The lushness of the pillows against the distressed headboard and simple bedclothes adds further interest.

Headboards

 oomph on line

 The inclusion of a headboard that mimics waves below the picture of the whale is striking. The bedding has a simple nautical feeling in blue and white.

 house to home

Something as simple as a painted strip behind a bed to act as a headboard can be very inviting. The repetition of lavender makes this a calm space. If you wanted to rev it up a little, magenta pillows would do the trick.

Lamps 

 Houzz

 The symmetrical placement of two lamps in this work space provides a frame for the asymmetrical  gold branch.  Your eye is led there by the gold chair.  The aqua stool creates variety in colour.

 Olofjakobina

Lamps don't have to be huge to be effective.  The simple silver lamp fills the empty space above the art work. Remember lamps can do more than shed light.

Doors

Gramercy fine linens and furnishings

Sometimes doors complete a room either through  interesting lines or colour.  These doors have both.

What a coat of paint can do!

I love eclectic pieces of furniture rather than matched when I decorate my own home. Sometimes I paint these finds and other times  I strip the original finish and create a custom wash . 

  We recently had to replace this green washed oak  dresser in our summer house when we relocated  it  to our newly renovated master bedroom  in town (that will be another post).

We bought this gem  at  Habitat for Humanities Restore for $20 dollars when it passed my husband's structural integrity test being  pronounced solid and square with good sliding drawers. Sometimes being married to a wood worker can become tiresome.  I liked it  because it had great lines. 

 The walls of this bedroom have been  Ben Moore Revere Pewter for ten years.    I wanted the ocean view  to be the focal point so I choose a colour for the dresser  that was just a little darker than the walls.

  I sanded liberally and primed with Ben Moore Advance Primer.  The colour is  Ben Moore CSP upper west side (Aura). I love this gray as much as I love Revere Pewter.  I think Revere Pewter is the perfect gray so that is quite a standard to match. I'm still debating painting the legs. They blend in with the floor and the tips are gold.  My current feeling is leave them because gray would accentuate the gold tips.

I have to admit that the knobs and handles  purchased at Home Depot cost 4 times the price of the dresser, but they were a must to keep the mid century modern feel of the piece. 

Opinions

How do you feel about this colourful  vignette ?
Are there things you like?
Are there things you would change if you had an opportunity to do so?We all have our own take on a space, our likes and dislikes. That's what makes decorating an imperfect science.

 Amber Interiors

When I glance at this room I am immediately attracted to the bold magenta dresser.  It commands the eye because of its  colour and its size in comparison to everything placed near it.  The chair paired with it is just as commanding for different reasons (pattern and texture). I like the rounded back, but not the pattern or the colour.  Perhaps something in a deeper aqua  with a rounded back would be a better foil for the dresser.   "Breathing space" is important and this chair doesn't have any.   If you needed a chair there  and that was the only amount of space available, a darker aqua chair   would fit better visually and connect with the other elements.  

When I'm adding accessories to a striking piece like this dresser , I always want larger scale pieces  that provide colour contrast and variety in shapes. I like the white box, but I would choose a larger plant and a more rounded third object  and then overlap the arrangement to move your  eye around.


 The artwork would work better with a different chair.

And that's my take! What's your opinion?  Come on, you know you have one. 

Lessons learned

Vivid greens are subtly moving into golds and oranges and there's a bite in the air even on sunny days.  My mind is  moving on to what I want to do to herald the  fall season.   I never go all out in these things because my design aesthetic is very understated. The only vibrant things in my home are paintings which for some reason seem to have a lot of orange!  I guess I'm honouring fall year round.

I was at the dollar store the other day and saw some great deals on fall foliage.  Usually that means pulling bouquets  apart and rearranging them so they don't look like they came from the dollar store.  Follow the arrangement as I move it around my kitchen and dining room to see where it looks best.

 Would you like to see something taller and a little larger here? I feel there is just too much space between the light fixture and the arrangement.  The black chairs are very dark and they demand something larger in scale . Better start looking for more deals and find tall, dark elements and another vase.

This arrangement I keep in my dining room illustrates  what a difference height makes even without the bold colours of fall.

When you crop the picture  the arrangement looks bold and eye catching.

With or without the straw placemats ? Your choice. With the placemats it  is homey, without is more styled and contemporary.

  When you pair the arrangement with our giant red mug it seems smaller and less eye catching.

 The bouquet just can't fight the scale and vibrancy of this painting; therefore, it looks totally insignificant. You need something  taller.  

Enter our trusty arrangement for the sake of comparison. This arrangement works so much better because of its lack of colour and height. There's no way you can compete with the colours in the artwork so don't go there. 

 Nestled on my window ledge the bouquet  looks comfortable, but I've created another problem.  The little art work next to the bottle looks lost, and all the colour is on one side.   The vignette needs balancing with an object more colourful and larger than the painting. Hummmm, what can I find?

Do you consider scale and colour  when you add accessories to your home?